Dragon Times – A math adventure card game for kids by Dragon Times

Dragon Times is a fun interactive card game designed for kids six and over that helps kids learn multiplication. With the advent of common core math, my older son has struggled to understand the variety of ways to solve a math problem. Dragon Times has helped him to memorize his multiplication factors in a fun easy way that makes him engaged. Inside the box are 60 spell cards, 42 dragon cards, two times spinner grids, a spinner and instructions. My son is a visual learner and seeing the differences on the dragon cards helped him to differentiate even versus odd, and look to identify unique features on each of the cards.

What we love…

fun way to teach kids about multiplication that involves a math game instead of worksheets

What we’d love to see…

a larger printable times table or spell book so that my son could reference it during gameplay.

Summary

Fun interactive game which encourages kids to learn their times tables while doing spells and practicing real time learning.

Our Rating

Gameplay is fun – although it takes a bit of practice to make sure kids are really looking at the cards to understand the features on each one. In level 1, the dealer passes out six spell cards to each player (2 or more can play). Next, the dealer places eight cards down with the dragons facing upward. The first player then looks at their cards and tries to find a pair of numbers that when multiplied gives as a product of one the Dragon numbers that are down – there is a Times Table (aka spell book) that can help them. When we were first playing this, a parent paired with our son to help him look at the cards and identify the characteristics. If the player makes a lucky pair, they show the other players and get to pick up the Dragon card. Gameplay continues until one player finishes their spell cards or until all the Dragons are saved. The winner of this stage is the person who has the most Dragon cards.

After your child has mastered Level 1, there is a second level where they can tame dragons and guide them to safety. This uses the spinner and previously saved Dragons from the first stage. Each player spins the spinner. At each spin, players look at the Dragons and numbers to see if one has a particular feature that the spinner landed on. This could be a factor, even/odd, square number. If it matches, they keep the Dragon near the spinner and it is considered tamed. When a player does not have a lucky Dragon, they wait for the next spin. There is also an Evil Swap Spell card where players exchange Dragons in their hand clockwise around. The Evil Swap spell was confusing for my son, because he didn’t understand why he needed to pass his cards on. For the first few games we didn’t use it until he got a better hang of how the game worked and started looking at the different characteristics of the cards. The winner of this phase is when only one or none of the players have any Dragon Cards. The winner is the one that has the most tamed dragons near the spinner.

Sample of the Dragon Cards

Dragon Cards – these cards represent multiples of numbers 1 to 10 – every number is a dragon. Each dragon has features to help children know the factors of the number, if the number is even or odd or if it’s a square number. Numbers 1-10 are Baby Dragons,odd numbers are Snake Dragons, even numbers stand on four legs. Multiples of 3 (or numbers divisible by 3) have one horn, multiples of 4 have wings, multiples of 5 have big ears, multiples of 6 have a double tail, multiples of 7 have pointy tails, multiples of 8 have a mane, multiples of 9 have three horns, multiples of 10 have two heads, and Square numbers breathe or throw fire.

Sample of the Spell Cards

Spell Cards – these are the numbers from one to 10. There is also a “Wizard’s Choice” Spell card which can replace any spell card. The “Wizard’s Choice” card can also be used as a “wild” card to help the player capture a dragon in Stage 1.

I enjoyed playing this game with my son. I noticed that it helped him take on more perspective about which cards had which features were on each card and his math skills improved quite a bit!

In terms of enhancements, I wish there were a printable on the Dragon Times table as I just found one online and printed it out – the reference one for my son was a bit too small when he wanted to play quickly. There is an included spellbook which is likely perfect for most kids, but my son wanted a larger visual to help him quickly run his finger down the times table.

Overall, this is a fun game that teaches while you learn and engages kids to learn a fundamental math skill. I enjoyed it because I didn’t have to draw diagrams, make circles or have to show my son how to solve the problem in multiple ways. It was simply pure enjoyment as we learned math times tables and real time learning.

NOTE: A product was supplied by the company for review purposes, no other form of compensation was received, all opinions stated in the review are those of the author and have been offered honestly.The links in this post may contain affiliate links where The iMums will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on our link, this helps to support the costs of running this site and we appreciate your support.

Alison, the American iMum is from Massachusetts. She lives there with her two sons and husband. In their spare time, they enjoy playing outside, enjoying nature and of course testing apps and fantastic products on their devices. My older son loves technology and loves testing out the “latest and newest” apps and tech. I love sharing information about apps and products with others to help them make decisions without feeling overwhelmed with all of the choices.

Links

Amazon

Archives

Archives

As seen in…

The iMums is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to The iMums (amazon.com)

Meet the iMums

The iMums - Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace - are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to informing parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways! Read more.

Disclosures

Some of the posts on our site may contain affiliate links which help to defray the costs of running the site. These may be affiliate links and a small portion of your purchase will help to support The iMums.

Connect with Us

Blog Subscription

If you never want to miss a post by The iMums, simply subscribe to our blog to receive your daily digest. By signing up for our digest you are confirming that you wish to share your name and email with Feedburner as well as The iMums. Sign up here!